Images are divided up into logical categories – as well as thematic categories, like skies, aerial shots and architecture, you can browse by specific countries or key locations – and are searchable by keyword tags.

Each is shot by someone with a “VFX-trained eye” and is provided at a range of resolutions and exposure values (you can preview each EV online by dragging a slider) in 16-bit half-float DNG format.

The highest resolutions available are often very high indeed – the largest image on the site clocks in at 1.1 gigapixels – and many images come as pre-stitched panoramas.

Images become available by buying or accumulating site credits, with the number of credits required to download an image scaling in proportion to its resolution.

Assets from MattePaint.com have already been used professionally on movies including Deadpool, Assassin’s Creed and The Space Between Us.

Updated 28 March 2019: Since we originally wrote about MattePaint, its library has expanded to over 37,000 images at resolutions of up to 500MP.

If you sign up for a free account, you get 50 download credits, which roughly translates to one 5,000 x 2,750px image, or two 3,000 x 2,000px images.

Free accounts also accumulate five further credits per day, up to a bankable limit of 100 credits, although to claim them, you need to verify your account by linking it to an ArtStation or Behance profile.

MattePaint also now offers themed image packs in addition to individual downloads, and says that it plans to provide 100-credit packs of around 25 images in future.

Pricing and availability
Subscriptions to MattePaint currently start at $5/month, which gives you 10 bonus credits and up to 20 downloads per day. Credit packs start at $12 for 250 credits.